UTAR Kampar Campus was called on by delegates from China’s Shandong Jianzhu University (SDJZU) on 16 December 2019.

The SDJZU delegation was led by its Vice President Prof Song Tao who was also joined by Student Affairs Office Director Huang Juyuan, School of Business Dean Prof Hu Ning, School of Continuing Studies Dean Han Qifeng, and Office of International Exchanges and Cooperation Office Deputy Director Dr Li Xiao.

Receiving the delegation was UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Dr Au Yong Hui Nee, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Dr Lo Po Kim, FEGT Department of Construction Management academic Dr Khor Soo Cheen, Division of Community and International Networking Deputy Director Dr Chen I-Chi, and Centre for Extension Education assistant manager Loo Yi Huan. The meeting was also joined by Centre for Sustainable Architecture Chairperson Dr Lim Poh Im from UTAR Sungai Long Campus via video conference.

Extending his warm welcome to the SDJZU delegates on behalf of UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Prof Choong introduced UTAR as one of Malaysia’s leading comprehensive private higher learning institutions offering over 110 programmes from Foundation to PhD in various disciplines. “We also have collaborative ties with local and international universities which have brought about students and staff exchanges. To date, UTAR receives over a thousand international exchange students annually. Under the university’s encouragement, we also have over 1,000 students on exchange programmes with our partnering universities,” explained Prof Choong.

Thanking UTAR for the warm hospitality, Prof Song also took the opportunity to introduce SDJZU and its many similarities with UTAR. “Very much like UTAR, our university is also a comprehensive higher learning institution. Although we have distinctive advantages in the fields of architecture, building, construction, and engineering, we also offer courses in arts, science, management, business, agronomy, and even law,” said Prof Song, adding that SDJZU was founded in 1956 and currently houses over 28,000 students.

Dr Li also mentioned that the delegation was so impressed by UTAR’s prodigious growth as a young private university less than two decades old that they decided to specially make a trip to call on Kampar Campus. "As a university which also places great emphasis on international collaboration, we would like to understand UTAR’s international collaborative initiatives so that we could be explored further any mutually beneficial endeavours. We could look into the possibilities ranging from mutual recognition of credit hours, students and staff exchange to joint research,” he suggested, highlighting that SDJZU’s research strengths include Green Building, Civil Engineering, Architectural Design, Urban Planning, Building Energy Saving as well as Mechanical Engineering. “Our PhD on Technology and Theory of Green Buildings is also a very unique and specialised programme. Its research topics include system of theory and technology of green buildings, theories and methods of design of green buildings, system of energy and environment of green buildings, and theories and methods of green ecological communities,” introduced Dr Li.

Also expressing interest for staff and students exchanges in the areas of architectural studies, Dr Lim introduced UTAR’s Architecture undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, its international outlook, engagement with partner universities, and also activities held. “Our research interests include tropical architecture, vernacular architecture and so on. We’re also active in the study of disaster relief architecture,” Dr Lim mentioned, and extended her warm welcome to the SDJZU delegation to visit the Sungai Long Campus to catch a glimpse of the students’ architectural models.

The visit ended with a souvenirs exchange session and a campus tour.

Founded in 1956, SDJZU is an engineering-based multidisciplinary university specialising in civil construction.  The university of over six-decade-old also offers programmes spanning across areas such as engineering, science, management, literature, arts, law, and agriculture. The university also pays much attention to discipline development, considering it a thrust in building the SDJZU’s core competitiveness. By highlighting the advantage as well as feature of civil engineering and boosting the cross-development of conventional and emerging disciplines, SDJZU continuously improves the mix of disciplines and the level of research and development. Today, the university has been instrumental in the development of a number of fields, such as civil engineering, urban planning and building design, intelligent buildings and building energy conservation in China.